The Arts at JMU

DanceWorks Chicago is a contemporary dance company who performs a diverse repertoire to audiences across the globe with integrity, passion and excellence. This year’s festival features new works by DanceWorks Chicago as well as JMU’s award-winning dance faculty members. JMU dance majors will also perform with DanceWorks Chicago. More

What happens when Death comes knocking? A 2018 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama, Everybody is a modern riff on the 15th-century play Everyman about Christian salvation and how to achieve it. Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins is a 2016 MacArthur Fellow and “one of this country’s most original and illuminating writers.” (The New York Times) Features students from JMU’s School of Theatre and Dance. More

The acclaimed quintet Ranky Tanky from South Carolina will bring to life the soulful songs of the Gullah culture—spirituals, dance music, and children’s rhymes—by mixing Lowcountry traditions with large doses of jazz, gospel, funk, and R&B. Charlton Singleton (trumpet), Clay Ross (guitar), Kevin Hamilton (bass) and Quentin Baxter (drummer) join vocalist Quiana Parler of American Idol success to perform a memorable concert with music that is a testament to the human spirit! More

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Legendary Irish musician, multi-instrumentalist and composer Seamus Egan, founder of the pre-eminent band Solas, will bring along multi-talented musical guests to perform an uplifting concert featuring powerful vocals, exquisite fingerpicking and rhythm guitars, hard-driving tenor banjo, lively tin whistle, and masterful playing of the Irish flute, mandolin, and more! Don’t miss this unique journey through Irish songs old and new! More

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Named one of the best theatrical productions of 2018 by Time, The Hollywood Reporter and The Washington Post, Twelfth Night is a rousing contemporary musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy about mistaken identity and self-discovery. Features students from JMU’s School of Theatre and Dance and School of Music. More

The current cast members of the Emmy-nominated television show Whose Line Is It Anyway? are proud to present their new improv tour Whose Live Anyway? The show is 90 minutes of hilarious improvised comedy and song, all based on audience suggestions, featuring Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Jeff B. Davis and Joel Murray. More

Created in collaboration with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and JMG Live, Harlem 100 is a multimedia extravaganza that captures the magical sights and sounds of the Harlem Renaissance. Jazz standout Michael Mwenso and his big band backup, The Shakes, will bring audiences a rousing show featuring Brianna Thomas, “the best young straight-ahead jazz singer of her generation,” (Wall Street Journal) South African jazz vocalist Vuyo Sotashe, and tap dancer extraordinaire Michela Marino Lerman. More

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Set in rural England during the 17th century, Vinegar Tom tells the story of four non-conforming women tried for witchcraft and a village of accusers desperately trying to keep them in their proper place. Features students from JMU’s School of Theatre and Dance. More

Hailing from South Wales, the world’s top brass band ensemble will play an eclectic and engaging collection of repertoire bursting with energetic precision in a fun and rousing concert! More

From Marguerite’s celebrated “Jewel Song” to the beloved “Soldiers’ Chorus,” Gounod’s searing and sumptuous score propels Goethe’s tale of redemption and damnation into a dizzying dance with the devil that is impossible to forget. More

An electrifying fusion of film, dance and music, Taj Express is an international sensation that captures the expressive spirit of Bollywood movies that have been entertaining billions of people for generations. A feast for the eyes and ears, this pulsating production featuring nearly 30 performers donning over 2,000 costumes will have you dancing in the aisles! More

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One of the great novels of the 20th century—George Orwell’s 1984—is brought to life in an evocative and timely production by the acclaimed Aquila Theatre. Written more than 70 years ago, 1984 envisions a future dystopia where people are under constant control and surveillance by the government. How does Orwell’s nightmare compare to today’s society? Aquila’s “classically trained modernly hip troupe” (The New York Times) explores this question and more in this page-to-stage cautionary classic. More

JMU’s premier dance ensemble will perform contemporary choreography by nationally- and internationally-recognized guest artists and award-winning dance faculty members. More

The JMU Symphony Orchestra joins the combined Madison Singers and JMU Chorale for an inspired Christmas collage of holiday works for choirs and orchestra, featuring Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols and the finale (Ring Out, Ye Crystal Spheres) from the Christmas cantata Hodie. More

When newly-engaged Abigail and Carver receive DNA tests as a wedding gift, they interrogate what it means to marry someone of a different race. As they grapple with their identities from midnight to dawn, family legends and stories interrupt their idealized future together. Can Abigail and Carver overcome the past and forge a new story together? This world premiere features students from JMU’s School of Theatre and Dance. More

Experience a thrilling interpretation of the ancient Japanese tradition of taiko drumming with Yamato, whose members use “every bit” of their bodies to create an intense and high-energy performance that sends audiences home with a new vitality and passion for life. Jhonetsu-Passion is an innovative program that highlights the group’s virtuosity, strength, spirit, and sheer endurance. More

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A captivating crew of storytelling musicians bring Oscar Wilde’s classic fairy tales to life in Tall Stories’ new show, Wilde Creatures, a fantastical journey through palaces, forests and beyond direct from London’s West End. Founded in 1997, England’s Tall Stories is internationally recognized for its exciting blend of storytelling, original music, and laughs. More

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Prepare to be uplifted and transformed by the critically-acclaimed American Spiritual Ensemble featuring some of the finest singers in the classical music world. ASE aims to keep the American Negro Spiritual alive by performing renditions of classic spirituals, jazz and Broadway favorites that highlight the black experience. The Madison Singers will sing a few select numbers with ASE in this concert. More

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Award-winning conductor Vladimir Lande will lead the Siberian State Symphony Orchestra, one of the best orchestras in Russia, and a world-class piano soloist in a dazzling concert of Russian favorites including Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30; Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64; and Shostakovich’s The Bolt, Suite from the Ballet, Op. 27a - Tango. More

Three of opera’s most critically-acclaimed rising stars perform the world’s greatest arias, duets, and trios from Rigoletto, Faust, I Lombardi, La traviata, Manon Lescaut, La bohème, and more! This concert commemorates the 70th anniversary of the original Bel Canto Trio, and features the program that toured the United States in the 1947-1948 season. More

“One of the most exciting classical guitarists today,” (The New York Times) Miloš Karadaglić is topping record charts and delighting audiences worldwide with playing that is “crisp, colorful and rhythmically alive.” (NPR) Voice of the Guitar features Miloš and a world-class musical quintet playing classical and pop favorites by musicians ranging from J.S. Bach and Enrique Granados to Astor Piazzolla and The Beatles. More

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Violet and Daisy Hilton shared a rare bond: they were literally attached at the hip. The conjoined twins are the real-life inspiration behind the 2014 Broadway musical revival Side Show, which follows the story of the English entertainers and their search for love and acceptance amidst exploitation and fame in the 1930s’ side show, vaudeville and Hollywood communities. Features students from JMU’s School of Theatre and Dance and School of Music. More

Swiss-based theatre troupe MUMMENSCHANZ has been dazzling audiences worldwide for over four decades, pioneering a mesmerizing and joy-filled form of visual theatre. It latest program, you & me, is a visually-stunning spectacle featuring life-size puppets, masked characters and awe-inspiring optical illusions. More

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The powerhouse all-male Argentinian dance company Che Malambo performs a percussive dance and music spectacle that celebrates the unique South American cowboy tradition of the gaucho. Malambo is a dynamic blend of precision footwork, rhythmic stomping, drumming, singing, and whirling of boleadoras (lassos with stones on the end). Don’t miss this exhilarating show that has captivated audiences across the globe! More

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This vocal celebration brings together beatbox sensation Blake Lewis from American Idol fame and a cappella groups Committed, Grammy-nominated gospel/R&B legends and Season 2 champions of The Sing-Off; Filipino-American boyband The Filharmonic, whose unique hip-hop and 90s’ nostalgia sound was featured in Pitch Perfect 2; and the internationally inspired Women of the World, who perform folk music in 32 languages. Features select members of JMU’s nine a cappella groups. More

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Seventeen JMU School of Music faculty and alumna will perform an arrangement for chamber ensemble of Gustav Mahler’s stirring song-symphony Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), which consists of six songs based on a collection of Chinese poems about the joys and sorrows of life. Features the solo voices of tenor Jamison Walker and baritone Kevin McMillan under the direction of Foster Beyers. More

The Amernet is one of today’s exceptional string quartets, praised by The New York Times for its “intelligence” and “immensely satisfying” playing of new music and commissions as well as neglected works of the past. Currently the ensemble-in-residence at Florida International University in Miami, the Amernet will perform with special guests Heather Coltman, JMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and JMU faculty bassist Sam Suggs. More

Amsterdam-based Calefax Reed Quintet is acclaimed for its contemporary yet timeless interpretations of classical music. The Times of London has called the group, “five extremely gifted Dutch gents who almost made the reed quintet seem (like) the best musical format on the planet.” More

Prepare to be moved and inspired by the choreography and performances in this annual concert that features dances by selected JMU dance majors, faculty artists Rubén Graciani and Cynthia Thompson, and New York City-based dance professional Omar Román De Jesús, artistic director and choreographer of Boca Tuya and dancer with Yin Yue Dance Company. More

This special show commemorating the centennial of the birth of jazz giant Dave Brubeck features stories by the Brubeck brothers, video interviews with Dave Brubeck and musicians he influenced, as well as music by the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, “a wondrous combination of swing, melodic majesty, masterful arrangements and a truckload of truly inspirational solos.” (The Seattle Times) More

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Brimming with a lush score, compelling plot and brilliant wit, the hilarious and satirical operetta Iolanthe is a send up to Gilbert and Sullivan’s topsy-turvy world of misalliances, contradictions, and English political peculiarities. Passions are ignited, lovers are thwarted and then reunited, and in true G&S style, irreconcilable differences vanish with a pencil stroke and the wave of the Fairy Queen’s magic wand. More

Experience the JMU Symphony Orchestra as they accompany the winners of the prestigious School of Music Concerto Competition. The second half of the program will feature the strings of the JMU Symphony Orchestra along with The Madison Singers, JMU Chorale and JMU dance students in Triptych, a fast-moving, three-movement work by Grammy-nominated composer Tarik O’Regan. More

In the apocalyptic play The Hungry Woman, feminist author and Chicano playwright Cherríe Moraga uses mythology and intimate realism to describe the embattled position of Chicanos and Chicanas, not only in the United States but in relation to one another. Features students from JMU’s School of Theatre and Dance. More

A multi-ethnic Latin pop songstress, Gina Chavez is a 10-time Austin Music Award winner whose NPR Tiny Desk Concert has garnered over 800,000 views. Her latest all-English release Lightbeam, “steeped in slow-burn soul and up-tempo R&B,” (NPR) adds diversity to her passionate collection of bilingual songs that traverse cumbia, indie folk, blues, and Latin pop. Chavez “possesses the vocal abilities to dig deep into your soul with her melodies.” (Nanobot Rock Reviews) More

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After a full day of fun adventures at school and the store, Baby Llama can’t wait to put on his red pajamas. But where’s Mama? This hilarious new musical will warm every Llama and Llama Mama’s heart, and is based on the popular children’s books by Anna Dewdney. Wear your pajamas and join us for a pre-show reception and crafts at 6 pm! Founded in 2004, Bay Area Children’s Theatre reaches 125,000 children and adults per year in the San Francisco Bay Area. More

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This concert benefitting Any Given Child Shenandoah Valley features the Valley Wind Ensemble, a group of more than 60 local area music educators and freelance musicians. An ensemble of students selected from Harrisonburg City Schools return to the lineup in an evening that combines performance, education and dialogue to engage audiences of all ages. Check back for program updates. More

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